Lee is an up-and-coming designer of seductive love dolls, until the day his sexiest product yet goes murderously wrong. Sent to the crime scene to defuse a delicate situation, Lee finds that the rogue doll has been infiltrated by a mysterious, self-aware entity called Lilith who can't seem to make her mind up whether she's a silky-smooth seductress or a state-of-the-art assassination system.

Within hours, Lee's encounter with Lilith has escalated into a life-or-death race with her creators, the shadowy and relentless Elect, and ultimately into a battle for the very stuff of his humanity - a battle in which his best hope of salvation turns out not to be human at all.

ld be perfect: a random problem that had nothing to do with psychotic mindware or bad design, and that could be plausibly and reassuringly fixed by tightening standards in the fabrication plant.

All he needed was a few days to carry out an investigation and fake some results. Then, everything could get back to normal and he’d have plenty of time to figure out how to deal with the entity that called itself Lilith.

***

"Ah, Lee. Please, sit down. Will you take some tea?" Xia Lin poured for both of them. Lee’s project manager seemed more distant than usual. Cooler. Hardly surprising, Lee thought. This was where they put the boot in.

Usually, Xia Lin’s manner was anything but cool. Over several years of working together, she’d left him in no doubt that she was available for what Zendyne corporate-speak would have termed an ‘alliance’, with her as mentor and him as protégé.

It was a standing offer that would have done wonders for Lee’s career, if only he’d been able to take it up.

He’d often wis

Reviews

I started reading this book years ago then lost it due to a faulty computer that was caused by a faulty girlfriend.
When I eventually found it again after a long time looking, didn't back stuff up then, I re-read the whole thing and absolutely loved it to bits.
Thanks for your hard work Huw.

Ps. Tip for anyone tempted to elevate their ego by concentrating on perceived imperfections in this story,
Enjoy the adventure...

I started reading this book years ago then lost it due to a faulty computer that was caused by a faulty girlfriend.
When I eventually found it again after a long time looking, didn\\\'t back stuff up then, I re-read the whole thing and absolutely loved it to bits.
Thanks for your hard work Huw.

Ps. Tip for anyone tempted to elevate their ego by concentrating on perceived imperfections in this story,
Enjoy the adventure...

Zendyne makes (seemingly only female) sex-androids. Elite has created a self-aware artificial intelligence for its own purposes. The Shipwrights have their own pet project that can tap into the skills of both the others. The struggle of the three corporate entities makes a pretty good thriller, that distracts long enough to slip right by the holes in the plot. For a while. The book stops being a thriller when it becomes clear no one is vulnerable.

The characters are fairly well-drawn, nothing exceptional. The plotting is good, and everything gets nicely tied up in the end.

I have mixed feelings about this title. It does lack some coherence in certain aspects, but the story is entertaining and some of the characters and situations are very nicely portrayed.

As far as I'm concerned, the action worked very nicely until the last part of the book, and I felt a bit disappointed with the last turn of events. I got the feeling the author had finally decided to drop the whole thing off as soon as possible.

Some of the most attractive points and characters of the book are not too explored. Then again, maybe that is what makes them have that special something.

I had to stop reading this. While having an interesting start technology-wise, it soon becomes a standard hunt-the-outlaw plot. What's worse, being set into a future surveillance society, the reader is to believe that the main character gets away by driving his car on small streets only. I would guess such small problems are even solved by today's secret services. The author should do his/her homework and read some Sterling ("Shock Wave Rider") or Gibson first.

I found this to be a fascinating book. It is about a future in which people with enough capital can upload their mind to a disk while their new body is being cloned, androids exist that are perfect copies of real humans, and a fierce half human/ half machine assassin protects the interests of an all-powerful corporation.

The characters in the book have much more depth than most modern sci-fi.